The Italian Village, Vivere Room

Rehearsal Dinner

Chicago Cultural Center

Wedding Day

Ceremony

Cocktail Hour

Dinner and Reception

Fall

Our Wedding

Our Story

Elizabeth Jones

Jessica Worlin

Amber Alak

Aino Helin

Erin Holley

Rosie Moran

Lexi Moser

Rachel Noah

Grace Wiener

Blake Novosel 

Brent Novosel

Luke Forfar

Rick Hatton

Scott Johnston

Lukas Kerstein

John Olson

Jacob Pack

Kevin Steiner

Wedding Party

Details 

The following are some options for hotel rooms in downtown Chicago for our guests. They are all a 15 minute walk or 5 minute drive to the Chicago Cultural Center. Whether you would like to stay the night of the wedding on Sunday, August 31, a few days, or the holiday weekend, we have options for you. Each hotel has a guest room block from Thursday, August 29 to Monday, September 1. You can book rooms with the special rates anytime during these dates. These blocks are available until July 31. See below for more details.

Rates for Johnston-Novosel wedding block from Friday, August 29 to Monday, September 1 below. Book by July 31. Run of House, $269 (King or 2 Doubles assigned at check-in)Deluxe City King, $279Traditional 2 Doubles, $289Deluxe River 2 Doubles, $309Deluxe River King, $329 A $25 daily destination fee is added to the rates above. <a href="https://book.passkey.com/gt/220526197?gtid=c3374f3eaa6f97196773e97eeff535cd" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Click here to book your reservation in the Johnston/Novosel wedding block.</a>

The Westin Chicago River North

Rates for Johnston-Novosel wedding block from Friday, August 29 to Monday, September 1 below. Book by July 31. Run of House, $275 (King or 2 Queens, assigned at check-in)2 Queens Guest Room, $285 <a href="https://book.passkey.com/go/JohnstonNovoselWedding" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Click here to book your reservation in the Johnston/Novosel wedding block.</a>

Renaissance Chicago Downtown 

Rates for Johnston-Novosel wedding block from Friday, August 29 to Monday, September 1 below. Book by July 31. You can walk up the stairs to the left and cross over on the elevated walkway to the Wrigley Building on Michigan Avenue and walk to the Chicago Cultural Center, a strong 15 minute walk, but lovely on a great day. You can also take a taxi or shared ride. King Guest Room, $2202 Queen Guest Room, $250King Suite, $270 <a href="https://www.marriott.com/event-reservations/reservation-link.mi?id=1737484534282&amp;key=GRP&amp;guestreslink2=true&amp;app=resvlink" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Click here to book your reservation in the Johnston/Novosel wedding block.</a>

Courtyard Chicago Downtown/River North

Hotels

If you live or are staying in Chicago, we highly recommend taking a taxi, Uber, Lyft or public transportation to the Chicago Cultural Center.&nbsp; The drop-off and pickup location is 78 East Washington Street.&nbsp; Our host hotels for guests are close to the venue, so we recommend parking at your hotel.&nbsp;All host hotels are a 15 minute walk or 5 minute car ride. The closest parking garage is the Wabash Randolph Self-Park garage, 20 East Randolph Street, a 3 minute walk.&nbsp;You can book in advance on Spot Hero at a discounted rate.&nbsp; Other nearby parking garages are located at Grant Park North Garage (25 North Michigan Avenue), Grant Park South Garage (325 South Michigan Avenue) and Millennium Park Garage &amp; Millennium Lakeside Garage (5 South Columbus Drive).&nbsp;These are underground garages off Michigan Avenue.

Directions and Parking

A must do in Chicago! Go on a 90-minute architectural cruise on the Chicago River. The Chicago Architecture Foundation's First Lady cruise departs under the Michigan Avenue bridge on the South side. We highly recommend making reservations in advance. Another option is Wendella Cruises, which departs near the Wrigley building on the North side.

Chicago River Cruise 

Stroll down Michigan Avenue, crossing the bridge over the Chicago River towards the Drake Hotel. Enjoy the beautiful architecture, shops and restaurants. Be sure to check out the Chicago Tribune and the Wrigley buildings. Visit the world's largest Starbucks and the Hancock Building observation deck.

The Magnificent Mile

Visit the 360 Chicago observation deck on top of the John Hancock building for one of the best views of Chicago.

John Hancock Building

Stroll along the the Chicago River on the Riverwalk, filled with great restaurants. Our casual favorites are: City Winery, Brews &amp; Bites, Chicago Brewhouse and Northman Beer &amp; Cider Garden. More upscale options include: Chicago Cut Steakhouse, Smith &amp; Wollensky, RPM Seafood, River Roast and Pizzeria Portofino.

Chicago Riverwalk 

Enjoy this beautiful park across from the Chicago Cultural Center that has the famous Cloud Gate, also known as the "The Bean" - facing Michigan Avenue.

Millennium Park

The Chicago Architectural Center has a small museum with the history of Chicago and offers many walking, bus and river tours. All tours are led by trained volunteer docents. The most popular tour is the the Chicago Architectural River Cruise aboard Chicago's First Lady Cruises.

Chicago Architecture Center

This free jazz festival is held each year over Labor Day weekend in Millennium Park.

Chicago Jazz Festival

This spectacular fountain is located in the middle of Grant Park and is a Chicago landmark. It is considered one of the finest ornamental fountains in America.

Buckingham Fountain 

Visit the Skydeck at the Sears Tower (officially the Willis Tower), once the tallest building in the world! This is also the building Laura and Neil both work in!

Skydeck Chicago

The following are restaurants close to our Wedding venue that we recommend: The Gage, Acanto, Remington's, Cindy's Rooftop at the Chicago Athletic Association, Giordano's for Chicago deep dish pizza, and Miller's Pub. The Palmer House hotel is nearby, with a beautiful lobby bar, famous for their Old Fashioned cocktail. A cute, casual place is Lea-Cafe Francais on Michigan Avenue, a block from the Cultural Center.

Restaurants 

The&nbsp;Art Institute of Chicago is one of the oldest and largest&nbsp;art museums in the United States. The museum is based on its permanent collection of nearly 300,000 works of art, as well as special exhibitions.

The Art Institute of Chicago

The&nbsp;Field Museum of Natural History is one of the largest natural history museums in the world. The museum is located along Lake Michigan in the city's Museum Campus.

Field Museum

The Shedd Aquarium is a highly-ranked world aquarium. It is the first inland aquarium with a permanent&nbsp;saltwater fish collection. The aquarium is located along Lake Michigan in the city's Museum Campus.

Shedd Aquarium

See a Cubs game at this iconic stadium! The Chicago Cubs and Atlanta Braves play at Wrigley Field on Monday, September 1 at 1:20pm.

Laura & Neil

Laura & Neil

Wedding Party